U-Trade Beauty and Wellness Products Trading

December 7, 2021 ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION DEPARTMENT SEC ADVISORY Based on the information gathered by the Commission, a number of individuals or group of persons claiming to represent U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING and U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC (known in social media as "U-Trade" ) headed by its CEO, Founder, and President PHOEBE EVANGELISTA GRACILLA , are enticing the public to invest their money in said entity. As posted online, U-Trade offers the following investment Package Plans: Under this scheme, an investor shall earn a passive income equivalent to 500% of his/her investment for a 25-day lock-in period . These Entry Dividends shall earn a total of 250% profit in just 32 days . Under this scheme, an investor shall earn 25% of his/her investment in every cycle (each cycle = 8 days) for 3 cycles and on the 4th cycle, earnings equivalent to 175%, thus, total earnings of 250% in just 32 days . On top of the abovementioned, there are also: Direct Referral Commission equivalent to 40% of the direct downline's investment; Indirect Referral Commission equivalent to 1% of the chosen plan-investment of the indirect invite from the 2nd up to the 12th level; and Product Rebate equivalent to 1% of the value of product/s purchased by the downline. Allegedly, the company is engaged in the following business activities: U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as follows: On the other hand, U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC was registered with this Commission on 7 September 2021 under Company Reg. No. 2021090024627-14, with the following primary purpose: "To engage in the business of manufacturing, trading, direct selling, marketing, buy and sell of gadgets such as cellphone, tablet, prepaid sim card, computer and computer peripherals and health care products, home care product, beauty/personal product care products, food and beverages and to provide and give services and benefits to its loyal product users and distributors. Provided that the retailing activity of this corporation shall not tantamount to pyramiding, multi-level marketing nor networking; without acting as investment adviser or fund manager of an investment company; closed-end or open-end investment company, investment house, transfer agent, commodity/financial futures exchange/broker/merchant, financing company and time shares/club, shares/membership certificates issuers or selling agents thereof, provided further that it shall not act as stock broker or dealer in securities nor solicit take, accept and/or issue investments and/or investment contracts from public investors ; Provided that the corporation shall not solicit, accept or take investments/placements from the public neither shall it issue investment contracts. (bold underscoring for emphasis) Further, its Certificate of Incorporation explicitly highlighted: Clearly, the issuance of a Certificate of Incorporation only grants the said entity a juridical personality to conduct business 1 in accordance with its purpose but does not constitute an authority or license for the corporation to engage in activities such as solicitation of investments, issuance offering and sale of securities in the nature of investment contracts that require a secondary license . As the above-described schemes involved the sale of securities to the public, the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) requires that these securities are duly registered and that the concerned corporation and/or its agents have appropriate registration and/or license to sell such securities to the public pursuant to Section 8 of the SRC. To reiterate, while U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC is registered as a One-Person Corporation with this Commission, HOWEVER , it is NOT AUTHORIZED to solicit investments from the public since it has not secured prior registration and/or license from the Commission as prescribed under Sections 8 and 28 of the SRC. Similarly, DTI-registered U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING is likewise not allowed to solicit investments and does not have the necessary authority under the SRC. Furthermore, U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING and U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC are not registered Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and do not have corresponding Certificates of Authority as a Money Service Business as required under Circular No. 1108, series of 2021 or the Guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers . Hence, those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents or claim to act as such for U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING and U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC in selling or convincing people to invest in the investment scheme being offered by said entity including solicitations and recruitment through the internet may be prosecuted and held criminally liable under Section 28 of the SRC and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos (P5,000,000.00) or penalty of Twenty-one (21) years of imprisonment or both pursuant to Section 73 of the SRC. Also, those who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may incur criminal liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly as held by the Supreme Court in the case of Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Oudine Santos (G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014). The public is advised NOT TO INVEST or STOP INVESTING in any investment scheme being offered by any individual or group of persons allegedly for or on behalf of U-TRADE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS PRODUCTS TRADING and U BET TRADE INTERNATIONAL OPC as well as to any other entities having the same or similar schemes and to exercise caution in dealing with any individuals or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf of them. Should you have any information regarding the operation of the subject entities, please call the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department at telephone numbers (02) 8818-6047 or send your report to the EIPD at [emailprotected] . For the guidance of the public. Pasay City, December 7, 2021. Footnotes 1. Legitimate